KNOW OUR ARTISTS
At Ujjawala, making handicrafts is a meditative experience.
Hours of diligent work with intense focus and dedication piecing each product together immaculately. As an artist, the blind women perceive their creation from their heart while experiencing the textures, form and matter with their hand…they lend a part of their soul to every product they make.
It is truly an overwhelming experience to see the result of this meditative process of creation.
Meet Radha
Radha Devi, a young beautiful mother of a 10-year-old son, was once sighted has lost her vision completely. She had got her eyes operated on after her marriage, for the issue in her Conjunctiva as well as Cornea, but it didn’t work. As per the Doctors, now the nerves of eyes have dried out and hence nothing can be done further on them.
Separated from her husband, Radha was concerned about her future. She took a leap of faith and joined NAB India Centre for Blind Women & Disability Studies, to resume her life. Here, she learned new skills that would enable her to become independent. She enjoys learning, especially the Handicraft work, and successfully leveraged the production by making newspaper straw strips, Rakhi, pieces of jewellery, and other products. Even though it is challenging for her to identify colours, she has trained herself to be organised to follow the required sequence.
She anticipates the training would help her sustain in life. She is determined to be self-reliant and live a good and happy life with her growing son.
THE CENTRE
Reaches THE
DOORSTEPS OF THE DISABLED
Meet Manoj
At the age of eight, Manoj was attacked by his own relatives who spilled acid on his face to acquire his piece of land. Ever since his parents have been squeezing their sweat and blood to reconstruct his face and to normalise his life. Today he is a 23-year-old man, with a distorted face and no eyes at all.
The horrifying incident left him deaf-blind. Despite the heinous episode, Manoj hopes to progress in life and stand as an obelisk for his parents who always stood by him.
Initially, he was trained in few other organisations, however, he didn’t find any employment. But as destiny had decided, he toppled over to NAB India Centre for Blind Women. He was trained for four months, by Mr. Vijay Gupta, who himself is totally blind, at one of the operational branches at Chitra Vihar, where men from communities get trained and then placed. He learned to make paper products like multipurpose boxes, coasters of different sizes, coaster holders and many more.
The centre provides the paper straws, made and coloured by the blind women of the centre. He then takes them home to craft them into products. Once the work is finished the Centre receives the final product and hence the cycle continues. The Centre also supports them with monthly stipends and rations to help them sustain, valuing their hard work and keep progressing.
Manoj has now successfully trained two other blind women within his vicinity anticipates flourishing in the future.